Writing a book is a bit like exploring uncharted terrain. Everyone’s experience is different. But collectively we can all contribute towards an expanding manual on how best to approach this daunting endeavor. And, by sharing our experiences, we may help someone else achieve a dream that they would have otherwise been unable to reach.

With this spirit in mind, here are a few of the lessons I learned while writing my first book. If you’re just starting out, or find yourself stuck, I hope you find solace or inspiration from these tips.

  • Relax: Writing a novel has been a dream of mine from as early as I can remember. I’ve been an avid reader and writer since I first learned how.

This actually worked against me. Despite having already written and published several short stories, I found that I had inflated the importance of writing a book so much that it suddenly seemed insurmountable. I had made it a seminal moment in my life, setting the nonexistent stakes unreasonably high. And so I started out tentatively, on shaky knees that were threatening to buckle under the weight of such a heavy load.

My first few weeks were spent in a state of desperation, as I struggled to get 300 over-written words onto a page in a single sitting. The starting pistol had fired and I had pulled my rigid hamstrings right out of the gate. The finish line seemed like an eternity away. There was no way I could ever reach it at this lumbering pace.

Rather than give in to this early desperation, however, I just kept going. I was struggling with the first chapter, so I skipped it, and started writing the second one. This one began to flow better. My word count increased. My rhythm returned. And the story began to take form. Sure, not every day was wonderful. But that’s the nature of writing. The trick was to get over the pre-game jitters and let my instincts take over. I needed to get out of my own way.

Chapter one ended up being one of the last chapters I wrote, once I had the feel for the story, and my confidence had returned. By then I was able to write it in a flash (I caught it on a good day) and could take pity on the stilted prose written by my fearful former self.

The lesson here is not to make too much of the situation. You’re just writing a story. Make it the best it can be, but don’t make it bigger than it is.

  • Don’t Talk About It: No one writes a book alone. It takes help to make it as good as it can be. But you must write the first draft by yourself. This is a private affair. You have made contact with the ephemeral entities that reside within the world of the imagination. They are skittish, and easily scared. They must come to trust you. When you talk about them prematurely, or invite someone in too early, they can become spooked and scatter back to the dark corners of whatever world they come from.

Explained more plainly, a story is fragile in its initial stage. You may fall in love with a section, or a particular character set-up, and want to share it with someone, but you run the risk of that person not understanding the sample out of context and being less impressed than you expect. Their lack of enthusiasm, or, worse, confused criticism, can cast a shadow of doubt onto your story, causing it to wilt in the dark and die.

Doubt kills. Confidence creates. No matter how hard it is to live within the world of your story alone, you must do so in this early stage. Don’t spook the spirit of your story until its ready to show itself. This will be after the story is completed, and you’ve applied a couple layers of polish.

  • Keep Going: Be prepared to face self-doubt and uncertainty. These trolls lie in wait along the way. But they are only there to distract you. All you need to do is keep going, and they will falter and fall behind. For a little while, anyway. There are others around every corner.

There were several times when I almost fell prey to these demonic trolls. When I would get stuck, or venture down the wrong path and need to retrace my steps. There were times when I began to question whether or not I was up to the challenge, whether or not I was truly capable of creating a compelling and coherent piece of work that anyone would want to read.

The answer was the same for me as it will be for you. Yes, you are capable. And you will create a book worth reading. But only if you keep going. This is simple physics. Momentum will carry you across the finish line. Stop, and you will begin to bog down. And the trolls will bury you under their bridge.

When you get stuck, there is a temptation to take a break in order to figure things out. And, there’s some truth to that. You don’t want to dig yourself into a deeper hole. But, know this: the longer you are away, the harder it is to find your way back. The trail that you’ve trampled down from your daily travels becomes overgrown with thorny vines. A well-worn path is easier to walk than one clotted with weeds.

  • It’s Just a First Draft: This was a big one for me. My book is approximately 100,000 words. In order to create this amount of content, I had to write much faster than I would have with my short fiction. This meant that I couldn’t craft each sentence as carefully as I was accustomed, or fine tune the prose as I went along. At about 40,000 words, I decided it was time to kick up my feet and admire what I had written. Big mistake.

I was horrified. It was fucking terrible. I almost puked from the shock and disappointment. It read like some crude mockery of a real book. This was the closest I came to abandoning the entire endeavor and walking away.

I’m glad I didn’t. I was comparing a raw piece of work in its most infantile stage to the completed masterpieces of my favorite authors. It would be like comparing a developing fetus to a model on the cover of the glitziest fashion magazine. They hardly look like members of the same species.

Sure, it takes a ton of work to shape that raw piece of clay into a finished sculpture, but it will happen. That’s what rewriting is for. And your pacing, your prose, your tone, your depth of story, narrative nuance, character development, and so on, will shine just as bright as it always has once it’s all said and done.

For now, just slop as much clay onto the misshapen mound as you can until it’s time to break out your more delicate editorial tools.

  • Finish: I found that every stage of writing my first draft came with a unique set of temptations to stop. There was the intimidating scope at the beginning, and the trolls of insecurity along the way. And then, after I had made it past these initial trials, just when I had the finish line in sight, a new temptress came to distract me: the idea for my next novel.

All of a sudden my imagination became infatuated with this new idea, wanting to explore its potential and meet all the people involved in its tale. I had been living for so long in the same world I was ready to move on, and this adulterous idea promised to satisfy my imagination’s every indulgent desire.

Don’t let that stop you. It’s great that you are excited about a new story idea. It means that you’re meant to keep writing. It does not mean that this new idea will be better than the one you’re currently working on. Take note of everything this new idea wants to tell you, and store it away. In the meantime, keep your head in the world of your current work and see it through to its glorious conclusion. Don’t fizzle out at the end.

I am awed by the early explorers of the imaginary realms. The ones who ventured out without the aid of a compass or map of any kind, and were still able to return, weary and wounded, with a tale clenched in their upraised fists for the whole world to read. These were brave and courageous creatures. Perhaps even deranged. But I thank them for paving the path for us to follow, and hope that this piece helps to further clear the way.